Frank Lampard put Chelsea's title challenge emphatically back on track with four goals in a 7-1 thrashing of Champions League wannabes Aston Villa at Stamford Bridge.

Lampard's fourth strike, in stoppage-time, lifted him to third in Chelsea's all-time goal– scoring chart and to 20 goals in a season for the sixth consecutive year.

On top of the pile: Frank Lampard's four goals sent Chelsea to the Premier League summit

Carlo Ancelotti's future as Chelsea manager had been called into question after the Champions League defeat by Inter Milan and a draw at Blackburn last weekend.

But this rampant performance, following five goals without reply at Portsmouth in midweek, will give Chelsea renewed belief going into Saturday's crucial visit to table-topping champions Manchester United, who themselves looked ruthlessly impressive in a 4-0 win at Bolton despite the absence of the rested Wayne Rooney.

Lampard said: 'We know what we can do: win all our games and we'll be champions. 'This week has got us out of a bit of a rut. We had a few poor performances and we have to apologise to the fans for that.'

Assistant manager Ray Wilkins said: 'Frank is invaluable to us. When you consistently score goals and play to the level he has for so many years, you have to say he's a world-class footballer.'

Four-some: Frank Lampard celebrates with Chelsea captain John Terry

Chelsea's biggest win of the season arrived despite Ancelotti leaving top goalscorer Didier Drogba on the bench after the Ivory Coast striker hurt his knee at Portsmouth.

Lampard started and ended the scoring with close-range finishes, either side of converting two penalties himself, a brace for Florent Malouda and a late strike by substitute Salomon Kalou. With Arsenal suffering a setback when veteran Kevin Phillips earned a stoppage-time draw for Birmingham at St Andrew's, next weekend's match at Old Trafford looks even more like a title decider.

Wilkins added: 'We go there with the utmost confidence, because we are defending well, attacking with pace and power and looking a good team again.'

For Aston Villa manager Martin O'Neill, this defeat, Villa's first in the league in 2010, was as hard to take as any of his life in football and leaves his team seven points behind fourthplaced Tottenham, who beat Portsmouth.

O'Neill said: 'It's as devastating a result as I've had in the game. Our chances of finishing fourth? On that performance, we wouldn't finish 44th.'